LL will not authorise deposit return

Andyhhh

Hi Folks

I have just finished a tenaany on which there is a £1800 deposit held. The LL is trying to charge me for the repainting of a celing stain caused by a leak from the roof. It was very subtle and I hadnt noticed it as it was so insipid.

If I had agreed to the £150 in dispute he would have authorised the £1,650 to be returned. But it know seems that he wont authorise any of it being returned as I whilts I progress through the TDS system to relcaim the £150...

He wont answer calls or reply to emails anymore.

I have two questions:

1. What reference do I have that says he must return the £1,650 that is not in dispute or can he hold onto the whole lot although only £150 is in dispute ?
2. Whilst I understand I had a duty of care for the property, not spotting a small subtle ceiling leak seem well beyond the remit of a duty of care... does anyone have any experience of this please??

Any thought or answers would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Andy

DVardysShadow

1. I would feel tempted to initiate small claims court for for the £1650 and £150 by TDS arbitration

2. Do you have photos? I think anyway you could successfully argue that however soon you had noticed, the repair work would be required to the extent of £150, just as a result of it reaching noticeability. As it is subtle, presumably the fix is to dry it out and emulsion over.

Andyhhh

Yes, very tempted by the small claims, but am waiting for an answer from the agenst currently. Was more interested in seeing if anyone has experience of the LLs not being able to hold onto the undisputed portion to begin with and the law being on my side.

SCC will be next though

Thanks in advance

Andy

clutton_2

"leak from the roof" ? in what way is a tenant ever responsible for this ??? landlords repairs - definitely .... he is trying it on...

ThrowingStonesAtYou

Landlords found to make frivolous claims like this should be charged triple the disputed amount as a fine, or even better should lose the right to be a landlord. If they go bankrupt due to being unable to pay the mortgage then good.

Despite the TDS it's still heavily in the landlords favour as they can dispute anything from the deposit with no risk to themselves as it's not their money, however the tenant is at financial risk and loses a lot of time over nothing.

Andyhhh

Yes, it is frivilous, but he claims that it is my duty of care and that I should have informed him about it.

Of course if it had been leaking for months on end and I hadnt informed him about it I would say he had half a case - but it wasnt.

Butr my real question is - as he has agreed by email - only £150 is under dispute.... how can I get the remainder back without having to wait for a TDS claim for the whole bloody lot ....??!!

ThrowingStonesAtYou

Andyhhh wrote: »

Yes, it is frivilous, but he claims that it is my duty of care and that I should have informed him about it.

Of course if it had been leaking for months on end and I hadnt informed him about it I would say he had half a case - but it wasnt.

Butr my real question is - as he has agreed by email - only £150 is under dispute.... how can I get the remainder back without having to wait for a TDS claim for the whole bloody lot ....??!!

Had a quick look and found this site:

http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk/tenancydepositschemes.htm

which says:

At the end of the tenancy, if the landlord and tenant agree how the deposit should be divided, they will tell the scheme they are using what they have agreed and the money will be paid out accordingly. Should there be a dispute over the deposit, the scheme will hold the amount until the dispute resolution service or courts decide what is fair.

Which seems to imply the whole lot is held until an agreement is made/forced. I guess maybe they need to hold the whole lot in case the courts decide the landlord should get more than they are disputing

Hopefully somebody else will have a definite answer..

clutton_2

exactly which deposit scheme is the money registered with ? there are 3 schemes.....

was an inventory done when the tenant moved in and moved out again ? did both tenant and landlord sign it contemporaneously ?

does tenant have photos of the condition of the property on moveout ?

DVardysShadow

ThrowingStonesAtYou wrote: »

found this site:

http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk...sitschemes.htm

which says:

Quote:
At the end of the tenancy, if the landlord and tenant agree how the deposit should be divided, they will tell the scheme they are using what they have agreed and the money will be paid out accordingly. Should there be a dispute over the deposit, the scheme will hold the amount until the dispute resolution service or courts decide what is fair.
Which seems to imply the whole lot is held until an agreement is made/forced. I guess maybe they need to hold the whole lot in case the courts decide the landlord should get more than they are disputing

I would not class that site as being definitive - it is a broad brush overview.

DVardysShadow

Try this: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/DG_066397

This implies for an insurance based scheme that the amount in dispute must be handed over to the ADR [dispute resolution service] once a dispute is notified. In this case LL disputes £150, T disputes £1800.

bownyboy

Our landlord tried something similar. Deposit was £1800 they tried to claim for £800 for a list of unreasonable items. We disputed each item, and under the TDS rules the landlord MUST return the undipusted amount immediately, while you then go through the TDS arbutration process. Failure by the landlord to do so means they risk their entire claim being thrown out and the award going to the tennant.

We took ours to TDS and won. It was very straightforward and took approximately 4 weeks. You can check your progress online.

Fill out the paperwork and off you go.